Don't Fear The Reaper

Sometimes I wonder if I wake up in the morning, take my brain out, and set it in a jar by the table, and proceed to be stupid is as stupid does the rest of the day. I forget my keys at the center on a regular basis, and end up having to go back for them. This time, I realized before the bus got back to Damascus Gate, so got off early- and I pulled my phone out of my bag to call Amoun, saw something drop, and said to myself, oh, it's just a piece of paper. I get off the bus in the middle of East Jerusalem to catch a another bus back to Shu'fat, and realize that what I dropped was my debit card. The only way I can get money out of my account. On some random Arab bus, that goes back to a parking lot filled with dozens of other buses that look exactly the same.

In this moment, as I am standing there (and smacking myself on the forehead when I realized what an idiot I was, much to the amusement to the Palestinians), I at first felt completely screwed. Then apathetic- I can live on 150 shekels for three weeks (not). Then, as I was listening to 'Don't Fear The Reaper' on my iPod (on my top 5 list) that I hadn't taken out of my ears yet, I was like hell, I'm going to get that card back if it kills me. So I waved down another bus, headed to the parking lot, and proceeded check every since 74 bus, to the bewilderment of the drivers, for my visa check card.

And I found it. And in this moment of triumph, all I could think about was screw being a female traveling alone. I've got this. For the past few weeks, I have gotten the 'you can't do that, you're alone and a girl,' or the multiple males of the hostel offering their escort services to dinner and elsewhere around, because they think I can't take care of myself, or the unending harassment from the locals. My favorite is the Mormons who I worked with for a bit at the center- they are around 70 of them from BYU for the summer, and apparently I have become famous as 'that girl who is in Israel and Kenya by herself'- I've been stopped on the street by them multiple times, and I don't think I've even met most of them. (Mind you, their program doesn't let them travel outside of the university except in threes, and have a 10:30 curfew). It honestly hadn't occurred to me as a big deal, until everyone else either 1- gawked at me, or 2- made it pretty clear they think I'm an idiot for doing so. So today I felt a big 'take that'- except a slightly more forceful word- whether justified or not. I chased down a bus, found my card, and did it with style (aka managing not to make an idiot of myself, except for the smacking myself in the head part).

Maybe this sentiment is a stupid one, and this sense of conquering the doubters just an attempt on my part to convince myself I'm not stupid for traveling by myself, but hell, it's a good one.

This sense of women empowerment might have origins in meeting an astounding woman this week, Hauwa Ibrahim. Let me just lay out the women in this room for the pre-Mayor Nir Barkat meeting:

1- Amoun. We all know what a bad ass she is.

2- Hauwa Ibrahim.-She is a Nigerian lawyer who defends woman in Sharia (Islamic) courts against adultery charges, of which the punishment is often death by stoning. She is the first women to stand up and address a Nigerian sharia law court directly, and Oprah is a fan. She has spoken at the anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights, and is one of the most humble individuals I have ever met. She doesn't accept pay from her clients- not a cent. She dropped $500 on the center (Harvard gave her a lot of money to write a book), but then wouldn't buy an outfit for 90 shekels- the equivalent of app. $20, because it was 'over her budget'. (Her, Amoun, and I went to Jericho for the afternoon- I think I teetered between absolute awe and asking 2,000 questions a minute).

3- Anat Hoffman- Is one of those people that just lights up a room when she walks in. She brought me Tel Aviv ice cream (apparently the only kind of ice cream to have). This woman, in a city where enacting change is like trying to get gum out of your hair, has just bull-dozed her way through the opposition. Now the Executive Director of the Religious Action Center, she was formerly a Jerusalem councilwoman, and was a huge part of allowing women to pray at the Western Wall, and an advocate for equality of municipality services for Palestinians in Jerusalem. She is known as a 'David' against the Orthodox 'Goliath' of Jerusalem. I have an interview with her next week- I might pee in my pants.

4- Two of the other board members- Michaela and Daphna- who are forces unto themselves. Michaela is an American who performed aliya (immigration to Israel). She is a flamenco dancer, who has a strong presence in the non-profit world. Daphna is an American studies professor (I admit, it was funny to hear of people in other countries studying America- what, you study cheeseburger consumption and football or something?- she didn't find that funny). But she is pretty cool too.

Anyway, it was quite a gathering. As I sat in the meeting (which I got to contribute to and stategize for), I felt pretty darn lucky to be in such good company. While it has been a stressful week with Amoun (for anyone who saw my lashing out post that I later deleted when in a better mindset), it is moments like these that make me get over myself. That, seeing my chako/rainbows sandals tan develop in an interesting pattern, and sleeping on the roof of the hostel under the Jerusalem sky (glad I invested in a legit sleeping bag, it gets cold here), I can't help but scream inside with just how awesome this all is.

The first interview didn't happen- part of the frustration- but she promised tomorrow after I sat her down and made it clear I needed her help to make this happen. So we'll see. This Thursday I go to Tel Aviv to meet with Omri Kabriri, a HR lawyer who has worked on some of the legal issues to recognize the Domari as a legit minority in Israel.

So I know I didn't get to the food, or anything more about the community, but I know if I make this any longer people will stop reading. So soon, I promise! It will fit in nicely with a summary of the meeting with Kabriri. Oh, and the food. The rest of the world doesn't have a clue what it is missing out on with Gypsy food. Someone needs to give these people a microfinance loan to start a restaurant or something. Oh- and i've done some of the tourist thing- I'll get around to that eventually, too.